Thank you Michael, I have also contacted the extension ag service locally to see what they think. I've never seen fireblight here, but getting a certain diagnosis will help with management. Our apple growing experience is only 12 years now, still so much to learn. It takes me a long time to prune because I'm looking closely at each tree for anthracnose or other things amiss, I saw nothing on this

I'm hoping some of you can help identify what has suddenly taken hold of this 7th leaf tree in our orchard. I noticed no problems at pruning this winter, (I am always looking hard for anthracnose) nor had I seen anything wrong until doing my holistic spray yesterday. Dying from the top down, blossoms and leaves shriveling up. a canker or wound I can't identify is dramatic. Does not have the chara

I used it a few years ago on our peach trees to help with black/brown rot? (that gummy stuff on the limbs and die-back of may twigs and small branches) I did not notice any difference at all, I'm hoping the Quantum might make a difference this year.

HI Leslie, thanks for the response. I really enjoy the flavor and texture of the Black Oxford in spite of the looks, fortunately we can add them to our cider apples we sell as they all get blended anyway. Our trees all have great bloom this year, hoping for a good crop and maybe my trial of Quantum in my sprays will make a difference In appearance.

Thanks Leslie, no it can be on any side. I cut that whole branch out and the problem did not reoccur on that Boskoop. I'm not seeing it this year. Another mystery that the trees must have solved by themselves?

Thank you for posting this topic! Several years ago we received B-118 rootstock that was obviously infected with lesions. Not a great way to start an orchard, we burned them. . Right or wrong, I have been coating the lesions or even suspected ones with pure neem in winter when I prune. My unscientific theory is that the neem will disrupt the spores from spreading. So far, it seems to be stopping

Next time I spray I will try to measure the temp. Those parameters are helpful Michael, I will be interested to see what it is. Too bad there is no way to turn off the agitation only when I get down to the lower level on the tank, everything is thoroughly mixed by then!

I have had an extended conversation with someone local to me on a Facebook post that Michael made. I really like connecting with local growers. One that I met virtually here on HON has visited our orchard and we have visited his, and shared scion this winter. The questions that came from the FB post could have been answered by a search of this forum, which I strongly encouraged! But there is gre

Jake, we thought we were in a totally clean area. However, we are surrounded by commercial timber land and they occasionally spray from helicopters! Not something we even remotely considered when purchasing our land. They did log a huge area next to us but they left about a 1/4 mile buffer of trees standing next to our property. Enough to block drift? I guess the only way to know for sure would

Leslie, what do you use for Anthracnose? We bud grafted Grenadine a few years ago but it struggled and died. Rubiyat does exceedingly well for us, some scab but outstanding dark flesh. I've always been intrigued by the Etter apples, Eden is my favorite to eat, better flavor than Wickson I think. Vixen is extremely prolific for us and not a spec of scab.
The tree sold to us as Neidzwetskyana

Our young Black Oxford is loaded with blossom this year, hoping for a great crop as I prefer a hard crunchy apple and these are delicious! We also love Ashmead, but my favorite is the intense Karmijn D Sonnavile. We sell most of these for hard cider but I always keep some for fresh eating.

The discussion on spray tank pressure got me thinking about heat. My 50gal PakTank agitator gets the liquid quite warm by the time I get down to 1/3 tank, or so. I can feel it in the handgun. Sometimes it is warm for quite awhile as I maneuver to trees in different locations on our property. Is this damaging the little guys?

We had this happen after a spray where I added just a tad more neem to the tank mix and ALL Dabinett and chisel jersey showed leaf damage the next day. Oops. I did not make a note on which spray this was, but it was more summer than spring. I've apologized to the trees and promise to be more careful this year!

I am very interested in this, I have already ordered some Quantum Total to add in this years' sprays, it certainly sounds like a valuable addition to boost tree health through these photosynthetic purple guys!. We too had an outstanding crop this past season. However our cider apples ripened very unevenly. Size is not so much a concern as is maturity and sugar levels. As it turned out, our sugars

Here in the PNW it was a bit of a different story. We had our largest crop so far in our young orchard, It was an "on" year for many of our biennials, but the quality was not what I expected or hoped for. Apples ripened much later but also many dropped before ripening fully, and some hung on the trees and never finished ripening. Flavor (tannin and aromatics) was reduced. Color never fi

I just found this product, a company local to me called Fungi Perfecti. I'm thinking about adding to my spray program next spring. From their website:
MycoGrow® Soluble contains 19 species of endo- and ectomycorrhizal fungi, a select blend of beneficial bacteria, 2 disease suppression organisms along with soluble kelp, humic acids and vitamin B1. This formula is designed to help promote fast p

We also had a bear visitor who got over the fence by shorting out the hot wire. Our trees are young so lots of apples within easy reach. Very little tree damage but really disgusting to accidentally step in those chunky apple scat piles left all over the orchard! I'm guessing we lost at least 1/2 bin, 400 +/- lbs Hot wire fixes, problem solved.

Hi Josh, we only notice the yellow jackets in the orchard very late in the season, and only on damaged fruit. However, I was at a small ranch last fall near Spokane, WA. At times the ground seemed to be moving, there were so many in the grass. I made the mistake of stepping on a few, and immediately many bees came and started eating the dead ones! A friend from MT who was also there told us this

Hi David, I have a smug mug account and I uploaded the photo there and copy/pasted the link into the body of the post. I was surprised that it worked but disappointed no one recognized the culprit/cause of the big crack in the bark of my tree. Sorry for the delay in answering, busy times in the orchard now!

Hi, I've discovered some alarming damage to some of our trees. It's on apple, plum and asian pears. It seems to start as a long crack, then the bark splits and peels away without the usual stringy look to Anthracnose as I know it. I'm not sure this is "fungal" so pardon if I've posted in the wrong area. I do have a photo uploaded of an affected branch, about 1.5" diameter that I cu

I use Pacific Grow since it is "local" but I buy it from a retailer. Expensive and smelly, but does the job well, trees happy! I am intrigued to hear other responses to Tom's idea of processing his own fish! Sounds very cost effective and would make for happy kids too!